


A Change of Scenery

by SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash



Series: Staying Objective [1]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Decathlon, F/M, Spideychelle, academic decathlon - Freeform, decathlon captains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16512182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash/pseuds/SpideychelleCarwheelerTrash
Summary: Midtown Prep and Valleyview School for Girls: the two schools with the largest rivalry in all of Queens. Academically, the all-boys and all-girls schools have been at one another’s throats for years, with no clear pattern of victory. For new student Peter Parker, the competition between the schools is much more intense than expected-- especially when it comes to Michelle Jones, the captain of the enemy decathlon team and the most unpredictable person he’s ever met.*“So, does this mean you’ll actually let me drive the car to turn in my transcripts?”





	A Change of Scenery

**Author's Note:**

> //Hey guys! This is the first oneshot in a series that will be following the summary posted. Thank you so much for your patience!

Peter isn’t sure what he quite expected out of his first day of school, but Midtown Prep somehow manages to take his expectations and put them through a metaphorical wood-chipper. 

He knows it’s going to be different, of course. The move to the apartment where Aunt May grew up is out of necessity, now that Peter and May only have the one income between them for support. The change of schools, on the other hand, is May’s idea. 

It happens one late night, maybe three months after Ben’s death. By then, the move to the small apartment is complete. It is the home where May grew up, one that is a great deal more cramped and dingy than the space that they shared with Uncle Ben. Peter does not say a single word about this, however. He knows that May can do nothing about it, and with her touch, she has managed to make the apartment feel almost homey. Maybe they don’t have much, but it’s enough, and Peter knows that she never bargained on any of this. No matter how much she loves him, she never planned on him; she and Ben were never interested in children. 

And no one could have possible planned on losing Peter’s uncle so soon. 

Peter is sitting at their kitchen counter, working on a summer assignment for AP Calculus that he knows will take him less than twenty minutes to complete. He could get his work done much faster in his room, but there is a reason that Peter does his homework at the kitchen counter every night without fail. May likes to see him, to rest assured that he’s alright. And no matter what happens, Peter is determined to make sure that she knows that despite everything that might happen, he’s okay. 

Peter can tell that May is watching him, but it is only when he is nearly finished with the last problem that she finally speaks up. 

“Do you remember how I met your uncle?” she asks, and Peter looks up at her, surprised. He swallows and begins to set down the pencil, taking a deep breath. 

“Yeah,” Peter answers slowly, peering up at May. She is sitting with her back pressed against the stove, studying him through thick-rimmed glasses as she fiddles with a damp dishrag. There is clearly something she wants to say, and maybe he doesn’t quite know what it is, but now Peter is curious. “You met him while you were in high school, right?” 

“In a way, yeah,” May replies, setting down the rag and taking a deep breath as she moves to lean across the countertop. “He was a senior and I was a sophomore, and we were both in highschool, but not the same one. I actually wanted to talk to you about the school.” 

Peter blinks several times, processing what she’s saying. “You want to talk to me,” Peter says slowly, and he can’t repress a grin as he finishes, “Valleyview School for Girls? ‘Cuz I’d love to go, but it seems like there’s one major problem for me in that department-” 

May tosses the dishrag at him, and Peter doesn’t bother using his enhanced senses to catch the rag as it hits him in the chest. Instead, he laughs along with her and picks up the cloth, folding it and setting it on the counter beside his homework. May is smiling too, now, and Peter is a little bit pleased to have been the one who put it there. 

“I don’t want to talk to you about Valleyview,” she hums, running a hand through her long hair as she shakes her head. “I actually want to talk to you about where your uncle went to school… Midtown Prep.”

Peter’s eyes widen, and he blinks a few times in surprise before he can finally respond. “Oh, okay. That’s the school that you reach when you go down the yellow line, right?” 

“Yep,” May confirms, her eyes anxiously scanning his face. “Your uncle went there while I was going to Valleyview, and we met through the schools… Your dad went to Midtown, too. I’m not saying you have to go there, please don’t think I’m saying that. There’s no reason for you to switch schools since it’s not like we’ve moved districts, but I just thought that you might appreciate a change-- not that you haven’t been handling it well, I just-”

“No, no, no,” Peter interjects quickly, offering May a quick nod as his eyes widen. His mind whirs as he processes the idea. “I get what you’re saying. It might be nice to go somewhere where not everyone knows…” 

He doesn’t need to finish the sentence, and May knows that. She bites her lip, nodding in agreement. “Yeah,” she murmurs, and Peter knows that he’s said exactly what she was thinking. “And they have great college prep programs, they’ve got a great relationship with several colleges in the area and their test scores are incredible nationwide. I just thought that you seemed like a good fit.” 

Peter runs a hand through his hair, mind moving a mile a minute. “I mean, that all sounds great,” he confesses. “And you’re really okay with me transferring junior year? I couldn’t be valedictorian or anything. Not that I care, just…” 

“Who needs to be valedictorian?” she presses, offering him a lopsided grin. “No one gives a sh- um, sorry, no one cares if you’re top of the class or not as long as you show you’ve got a work ethic. And you do, Peter. They also have a ton of programs and teams that you don’t’ have at Hillcrest, like tech groups, and a really good Academic Decathlon team.” 

May steps away from the counter and to one of the drawers, and from within she pulls out a slightly wrinkled but still professional-looking pamphlet with the school’s name on the front. She hands it to Peter, and he turns it over in his hands. “You can look at that tonight,” she suggests, tilting her head slightly to the side as she takes one of his hands in hers, “and tell me what you think tomorrow morning. There’s still a week left for me to enroll you. And I don’t want you to feel pressured at all, hon. I just…” 

She trails off, and Peter furrows his brow slightly as he watches her. “You just what?” 

May offers him a small grin, letting out a sigh. “Maybe I’m nostalgic, but Valleyview did a lot for me, and I know that Ben and your father loved Midtown. It opened doors for them, gave them opportunities… I just want you to know those things are there for you, too, if you want them.” 

Peter nods, and for some reason there is a warm, constricted feeling in his chest. “Do you really think I can get in? Their entrance exams are supposed to be-” 

“-Absolutely monstrous,” May finishes, and her voice is lively. “But I have no doubt that you can do it, hon. Especially with that Stark Internship under your belt.” 

Peter winces, but he quickly coughs to disguise the expression. “Right. I forgot about that,” he hums, setting the pamphlet down. Lying to May is the most difficult thing he’s ever had to do, but it’s what he has to do. Still… She cares about him, and enough to suggest this. If Peter knows one thing, it’s that he trusts May, and that he doesn’t want her to worry about him. And if acting on that motivation means he has access to better classes and tech? It’s an added bonus. 

When Peter goes to bed that night, his mind is made up. It is for that reason that he wakes up the next morning with a grin on his face as he walks into the kitchen. May is trying not to seem like she’s watching him over her newspaper, so Peter allows her to do that for a moment before finally speaking. 

“So, does this mean you’ll actually let me drive the car to turn in my transcripts?” 


End file.
